You’d think that after 5 years travelling through 34 countries and dealing with officials of multiple cultures, politics, economics and language, I’d be a bit thick-skinned.  You’d think that Paraguayan Customs officers, La Marinha do Brazil, and Belize’s Park Rangers would have taught me the ultimate patience.  Oh, but that was before having to deal with the operations in Apia, Samoa.  Admittedly, some cruisers have had a wonderful experience here… Not us!  Since I am still upset over shelling $500 in 5 days to see nothing underwater, I’ll just be clinical about this post.

Date Line

When you go from American Samoa to (Western) Samoa, you cross the International date line; in other words, you’ve just lost a day.  We thought we arrived on Friday afternoon, but noooo… We were Saturday.  And on a Saturday at 1 pm, don’t expect to get any official attendance to your entry.

Port Captain

Arriving Apia, the only official port of entry in Samoa, you are to call the port captain on VHF 16, and he’ll clear you for traffic, then direct you to the anchorage or the marina.  Our calls were ignored, and only when we were in a position to drop anchor did the port attendant give us the OK to drop.  When we left the harbour on Wednesday, port control did not respond to anybody ‘s call until way into the afternoon.  So, don’t count on the port captain!

Apia Marina

The marina has been rebuilt after the 2009 tsunami and the 2011 hurricane, and it looks quite nice.  At the time of our arrival, there were 3 spots at the docks, including a large one for Domino, and all the pylon spots were free.  According to the Samoa Port Authority (SPA), all yachts are to dock at the marina.  We were directed to drop anchor in the bay, though.

Another problem: draft.  The marina has a 2.2 to 2.4-meter limit.  Sailing yacht Ariel IV was denied entrance due to their 2.6-meter draft.  Of course, the Nordhavn 87 Zembra was on the hook as well.  What should you do?  Usually, cruisers inside the marina will scramble to find you help!

Fees

The fee structure published on Noonsite is, for the moment, correct.  Catamarans pay 150% of these published fees.  Now, be aware that even though we were at anchor in the bay, we were assessed the same fees as inside the marina, or 87 talas/day. That’s US$ 40/day, my friends!

These fees also apply to the days when officials are not around to process your clearance, an extra 2 days while you are denied access to the shore, just flying your “Q” flag.

But wait!  There is more!  SPA has just leased the marina to a private operator.  We went to his office and asked for clarification on the marina fees.  He had no idea, except that the marina partners were going to raise the fees, not willing to lose money the way SPA did…. Really?

Cruising Permit

Are you or are you not allowed to cruise around the islands?  JP met with Claire, on the 2nd floor of the SPA building.  Yes, for US $100 you could get a cruising permit that also included your anchorage fee in Apia.  But if you went to Matautu Bay in Sava’i there was no cruising fee, but you needed to get permission from the Ministry of the Prime Minister at the government building.  Uh?

Clearing In

After spending Saturday and Sunday on board, patiently flying our Q flag, we were anxious to proceed with our clearance on Monday morning.  By 9 AM, Port Control had come in on VHF and promised to send the officials on board… Do NOT go to shore!

1. Health showed up at noon, cleared us, and we could now take our Q flag down.

2. Immigration called us for pickup at the dock an hour later and stamped our passports.  He also filled out our exit papers, agreed to stamp our exit so that we could leave directly from Sava’i…. But didn’t, and that would bite us in the rear 3 days later.

3. Customs called for their pickup late in the afternoon but cleared us in a few minutes.

4. No visit from the port captain or marina officials.

5. Agriculture???  Ah, that would be the next morning, another dockside pickup and a 4 Talas fee for our onboard trash.

6. Ministry of the minister… By 10 am on Tuesday we had finally secured our clearance and cruising permit, and we’re ready to tour the island… At last!

Touring Upolu

For 250 Talas ($120) our taxi driver took us around the island of UPOLU.  And what a splendid island it is, there is no denying it.  But the weather wasn’t with us as low clouds and rain marred the sky and obstructed the views. The best thing, really, was to drive through the lush vegetation and observe how the villages are organized, the houses without walls surrounding the meeting hut.  Samoans still live a rather simple lifestyle.  The streets are clean, the grounds manicured and there is no crime.  This, according to our driver (the son of a local chief, soon to be chief himself) is thanks to the chief’s authority who has the power to punish and even ban the malfeasants!

Savai – Matautu Bay

The wide bay opened to the North is a no-brainer.  Come in and drop the hook. Quiet and peaceful and the surrounding reef holds the promise of splendid snorkelling.  The local dive boat has been hopping from one site to the other and we’ve noted his moorings, even got his permission to tie up at his moorings.  Otto’s a very cool guy.

Question is, how do you go to shore?  The reef is forbidding and extensive.  At high tide, though, you can cross the reef in the direction of the old jetty and, keeping the white sticks on your starboard, carefully head to the beach at the resort.  The owner is quite accommodating.  The store across the street will gladly sell you a Wifi Card and you can arrange to tour the island.

Savai is, according to local lore, the island that Hawaii was named after, 1,000 years later, and it’s supposed to be the most beautiful of all of Samoa.  We didn’t experience that, however, as we were eager to check out the underwater scene.

And what a disappointment!  The reef at Matautu is dead.  Dynamite fishing and the resulting shockwaves, as well as root-brew fishing, have killed it all.  If the locals were able to stun the fish and paralyze it so it would be easy to catch, they also have destroyed the entire reef life.  Dejected, we abandoned our underwater quest and hoped for a better experience on land.  But the wind shifted to the north and we just hightailed it out of there, back to Apia to process our out clearance.

Clearing Out

We figured that an afternoon would be enough to process our clearance, right?

1. Immigration – Taxi downtown to the immigration office, queue in line, get passports stamped, done!

2. Port – Taxi over to SPA, go upstairs to Claire to process fees?… Oops, Claire took the day off, no replacement… So much for our all-inclusive $100 fee… The gentleman downstairs kindly offers to take care of us…. So, 87 Talas x 5 day = 435 Tala, or $200…. We complain: but we were at anchor, not inside the marina!  But we were at anchor only 2 working days, waiting for the officials and cruising to Savai the rest of the time!  No matter, mate…. Pay up… But Claire promised it would just be $100 all-inclusive cruising permit… But Claire is not here, is she?  Finally, after much coming and going, the guy shakes JP’s hand, “Gentleman’s agreement, US $100”. And gives us a receipt for 100 talas!

3. Customs – We rush there to beat the 4 pm cashier ‘s deadline.  Hand out our stamped passports and SPA receipt.  Oh, but where is your clearance letter from immigration?  Uh???? To make a long story short, immigration is supposed to give you a clearance letter IN ADDITION to stamping your passports.  Oh, but you must return to the immigration office and get your clearance!!!!  That’s when, in tears, I blow up and start at the customs official… “This is just not acceptable… The official should have known his job and didn’t do it… Call him ….” I choke, barely holding my anger… JP agrees, “please call him and tell him to bring the clearance, I’m not paying for another taxi!”  Agreed… An hour later, the immigration official shows up with our clearance and rushes out of the building… Here, Mr Customs official here is our clearance… OH, but this won’t do, it is only a copy and I need the original!  ARE YOU KIDDING ME??????  We argue some more and customs finally accepts the document.  PHEW…. We pay the 54 Talas ($22) clearance in exchange for a very nice document with an enormous bright blue “clearance” sticker reminiscent of kindergarten.  DONE!  It’s 5 pm and we made it.

We needed to celebrate… Walked to the KK grocery store and spent our last few Talas on a nice bottle of scotch.

EPILOGUE

As we walk past the marina entrance and wave at the security guard, he hails us over… What now?  “Aren’t you guys forgetting something?”   Hum…. Got our clearance, got Scotch, paid our fees, waved goodbye… Nope!  He holds our passports in his hand… Customs Guy just dropped these for you!  In the confusing mess, our passports had remained stuck somewhere on his desk!  Thank you, after all, Mr Customs Guy!

Saturday, 7 am, VHF 16

“Apia Port Captain, this is Domino, do you copy?  …. Request clearance out of the harbour, do you copy?  Nothing heard!”  And we steam out, only too glad to affront the 22-29kts on the nose to return to Pago Pago!

That was our Samoan experience.

Yours may be totally different.

Marie Dufour

MV Domino